- Simphiwe Ngema plays Zanele on new Showmax film The Winning Ticket.
- She portrays a woman from a poor family that ends up winning the Lotto.
- Her highlight on set was when they prayed together before working.
- Besides being an actress, Simz has also been working on her music career.
Some know her as Phindi from Isidingo, others might know her as Nonnie from Greed and Desire but this time she returns as Zanele on a film called The Winning Ticket.
Simphiwe ‘Simz’ Ngema takes on the role of a young woman that comes from a poor background but her life changes when her family strikes lucky and wins the Lotto.
Simz tells TRUELOVE this was the very first time that she had to take on a role of someone from a poor background. Most of her roles portray a well-established women and she had to research on how to best play this role.
But her values and personality still remained the same when she approached this film, which is the “good girl who just wants to work, who just wants good things in their life”.
Even though Simz has excelled in these type of roles for years, she doesn't like how this has been the box that most productions want to keep her in and she looks forward to playing more adventurous roles like being the bad girl, druggie, villain or even a sex worker.
“Oh lord I have a lot of dream roles. The reason why we are actors is because we are able to play different people with different personalities. So, when somebody boxes you and they just give you the same type of role, it kind of kills your passion for acting,” Simz says.
Besides wanting to explore more roles, Simz has dipped her feet into the music industry and says she has dedicated Wednesday’s for going to the studio.
Simz has also worked on brand collaborations like being the ambassador for skincare brand Saint SKN. “I’m just a brand ambassador for Saint SKN but people have been receiving it as if it’s my personal brand. I love how people say ‘we want your skin brand, where can we buy it?',” she says.
Apart from making new music and venturing into brand partnerships, Simz owns a mining and engineering company with her sister and she is currently providing their services for the mines in the Westrand and Marikana.
In addition to her career in the entertainment industry and her business ventues, Simz is also a boy mom to Tiyane Kemorena. “Motherhood has been amazing! It’s like literally my favourite role to play,” Simz says. She describes Tiyane as a soft, considerate child who hardly gets sick and plays well with others.
She also appreciates her partner, Tino Chinyani, who understands and is supportive of career and does not mind helping whenever her schedule gets hectic.
READ MORE | Simphiwe Ngema on becoming a mom during the COVID-19 pandemic
Spending more than 12 hours on set is how Simz describes a normal shooting day and she says it can be strenuous if you are not well prepared. “I’m a foodie so I have to make sure that my bag is packed with all the snacks I’m going to need for the day because it does take its toll.”
Apart from packing a bag filled with snacks, Simz makes sure that she reads her script and understands the whole movie. She then conducts a reading session with everyone that she will have a scene with.
It might sound like a lot of work but Simz says it has become enjoyable and fun because she is passionate about it and it no longer feels like work.
With The Winning Ticket, the actor says it was easy to work with the entire cast because everyone was passionate about the film and they were working out of love.
“The team was amazing, you hardly find productions that have a whole team that works so well together and people that are so passionate and people that actually get along. I always say that people think the drama is on the screens but normally the drama is behind the scenes.”
“I really think we did a great job,” raving about how the team managed to make the film a success even though they had time constraints.
She says one of her highlights of working on The Winning Ticket was when the cast prayed together before starting to work, this was something completely new to Simz. “We prayed before starting to work which was also a first for me. I’ve never been on a set like that where people pray together before they start working.”
